1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of vehicle maintenance, and more specifically, to servicing automotive fluid containing components.
2. Background
Operating fluid reservoirs in vehicles, frequently require servicing such as replacing used fluid with fresh fluid in order to properly maintain them and extend the life of the component and associated vehicle. One such reservoir requiring frequent attention is the automatic transmission fluid circuit. However, early attempts at developing automatic transmission fluid transfer machines often resulted in relatively lengthy and complicated procedures. Many of these devices relied upon compressed gases to circulate the fluid and thus required some sort of compressed air source adding to the device's complexity. Such early attempts also required significant manual operation and supervision as the operator had to continually monitor gauges and other instruments to monitor the fluid flow to achieve the desired performance. The devices themselves typically consisted of multiple components such as valves, pumps, and gauges in addition to several lengths of hoses or conduits to provide the requisite plumbing system to connect the various components within the system and to the vehicle's transmission.
While some of these devices proved satisfactory for their time, the next level of automatic transmission fluid transfer machines introduced a degree of automation to the fluid exchange process thus reducing the extent of operator intervention. However, the plumbing proposed in an effort to automate the process and perform the steps typically associated with a complete automatic transmission fluid service, typically continued to employ a relatively large number of plumbing components such as multiple dedicated pumps, gauges, and several valves. Again, a number of conduits connecting the various devices were used as a means of transferring the fluid between each source and destination.
Some examples of these automatic transmission fluid devices can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,482,062 and 5,337,708 to Chen; 6,062,275 to Rome et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,035,903 owned by the assignee of this application; and Japanese Unexamined Patent Application No. 2-72299. It is clear from a review of the devices shown in these patents that while success was achieved in reducing some number of components, the focus was primarily on automating the process and thus a relatively larger number of components is still required to carry out of all the desired functions, especially the connections between the various components which require hoses or conduits for conducting fluid between each point along the fluid transfer path. In addition, the above devices have not focused on maintenance of the unit and connection and disconnection in the field remains more complicated than is necessary.
Thus, while some of these devices such as that described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,035,903 have proven satisfactory in the field, there remains the ever present need to develop a manifold assembly with integrated componentry for use in conjunction with a fluid changing apparatus with a minimal number of components and omit or reduce hose length requirements to reduce costs, maintenance, and assembly time, yet still perform the fluid servicing procedures associated with an automatic transmission service.